Reference Guide

NOTE
If the NPIV feature is disabled, the port is toggled if NPIV devices are logged in from that F_Port (a true NPIV port).
Otherwise, the firmware considers that port as an F_Port even though the NPIV feature was enabled.
Base device logout
Base device logout is a Fibre Channel - Lin Service 2 (FC-LS2) standard-based feature in which the Fabric OS firmware allows NPIV
devices to remain logged in after the base device logs out. This feature is available on all the switches and Access Gateways starting with
Fabric OS 7.3.0. Any device attached to an NPIV port is able to log in and log out without affecting the login status of the other devices
on the port. This section explains the changes in F-port behavior, use case scenarios including possible changes in existing Fabric OS
show commands, new CLIs and configuration commands associated with this feature. This section explains also the possible risks,
compatibility (FW upgrade/downgrade) and HA aspects of Fabric OS related to this feature.
From their inception, Brocade switches have treated a base device logout on a given port as a logout of all devices on that port. For
NPIV devices, this means that each NPIV device is logged out when the base device is logged out. This is referred to as the legacy
functionality. When the final FC-LS2 standard was released, the functionality it defined had changed from the initial understanding.
Instead of the base device logout causing all NPIV devices to log out, the base device logout affects only the base device; the NPIV
devices stay logged in.
Difference in the device logout behaviors
A base device is a device on an F_Port that has the base PID. The base device logs in with a FLOGI. An NPIV device is a device on an
F_Port which has an NPIV PID. An NPIV device logs in with an FDISC.
The following table summarizes the difference in the base and NPIV device logout behaviors with and without the base device logout
feature enabled.
TABLE 86 Base and NPIV logout behaviors
Scenario Without base device logout enabled With base device logout enabled
∙ No device is logged in. ∙ Requires a device with a base PID to log in
to the F_Port before any NPIV device can
log in.
∙ Requires a device with a base PID to log
in to the F_Port before any NPIV device
can log in.
∙ Base device is logged in. ∙ Allows NPIV devices to log in and log out.
∙ Permanent Port Name (PPN) is assigned
with PWWN of the base device for all the
devices logged-in on that port (for both
base and NPIV devices).
∙ Allows NPIV devices to log in and log
out.
∙ Permanent Port Name (PPN) is assigned
according to FC-GS-6 (5.2.3.13)
standard.
∙ Base device is logged in.
∙ At least one NPIV device is
logged in.
∙ If the base device is logged out, then all the
NPIV devices are also logged out.
∙ Removes routing information when the
base device logs out.
∙ Allows base device to log out while NPIV
devices are still logged in. Indicates that
the base device is logged out in the
switchShow command output.
∙ Does not remove the routing information.
∙ Base device is logged out.
∙ At least one NPIV device is
logged in.
N/A
∙ Allows base device to log back in as a
base or NPIV device.
∙ Allows NPIV devices to log in and log
out.
∙ Does not remove the routing information.
∙ Base device is logged out.
∙ All NPIV devices are also
logged out.
∙ Requires a device with a base PID to log in
to the F_Port before any NPIV device can
log in.
∙ Removes all the routing information.
∙ Requires a device with a base PID to log
in to the F_Port before any NPIV device
can log in.
NPIV
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